Budget Amendment ID: FY2014-S3-585

EHS 585

DTA Integrity and Eligibility

Messrs. Knapik, Tarr, Hedlund and Ross moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after section 144, the following new section:-

SECTION XX. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Department of Transitional Assistance shall establish a mandatory re-enrollment period for all enrollees in the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (TAFDC). The re-enrollment period shall be from September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014. Each month, the department shall identify one-twelfth of the programs caseload to participate and provide written notice to each enrollee at least thirty (30) calendar days before the re-enrollment period begins. The department shall comply with existing state and federal laws applicable to time standards for review and determination of eligibility, including income and asset limits, residency requirements, citizenship requirements, and social security requirements, and all notice and hearing requirements afforded to applicants and beneficiaries under its public assistance programs. The department shall continue distributing benefits to enrollees until a redetermination of eligibility is completed.

The department shall promulgate policies and procedures to hold a re-enrollment period for the Commonwealth’s comprehensive transitional assistance financial assistance programs. The commissioner shall report to the joint committee on children, families, and persons with disabilities, and the house and senate committees on ways and means, the findings and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry the recommendations into effect by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives on or before September 1, 2014.